JPH06161546A - Controller for traveling of light-guided work wagon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the installation work of a light emitting means for guide. CONSTITUTION:This controller is provided with a light emitting means for guide on the side of the end part of a traveling process so that a work wagon may automatically run along straight-line traveling process, and the work wagon is provided with a right and left pair of image pickup means S1 imaging the light emitting means. The controller is provided with a steering location deviation amount discrimination means 101 discriminating the deviation amount from the proper steering location of the work wagon based on the positional information within the screen of the image pickup means S1 of the light emitting means and a traveling control means 100 controlling the traveling of the work wagon. The traveling control means 100 steers and controls the work wagon so that the deviation amount from the proper steering location may be reduced based on the information on the steering location deviation amount discrimination means 101, and a distance discrimination means 102 discriminating the distance from the work wagon to the light emitting means based on the positional information within the screen of the right and left pair of image pickup means S1 of the light emitting means is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to traveling of a light-guided work vehicle provided with traveling control means for controlling the traveling of the work vehicle so that the work vehicle automatically travels along a straight traveling path. Regarding the control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a traveling control apparatus for a light-guided work vehicle of the above type has conventionally been provided with a light-emitting means for guiding from one end side to the other end side of a straight traveling path set on a work site. A light sensor for projecting a light beam for guidance from the beam light source as a light source and a light sensor for receiving the light beam for guidance are installed on the work vehicle side, and the work vehicle is properly positioned from the light receiving position in the lateral direction of the vehicle body. The deviation amount from the steering position is determined, and the work vehicle is steered so that the deviation amount becomes small.

[0003]

Therefore, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the beam light for guiding serves as a steering guide when the work vehicle automatically travels, the beam light travels in the longitudinal direction of the traveling stroke. It is required that the light passes through a predetermined position in the intersecting direction and is projected in parallel along the length direction of the traveling stroke, but adjustment and confirmation are required to accurately set the projection state of the beam light as described above. Therefore, there is a problem that a lot of labor and a long time are required for the work of installing the light emitting means for guiding.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a light guide type work vehicle capable of simplifying the work of installing a light emitting means for guiding in order to solve the drawbacks of the prior art. To obtain the traveling control device.

[0005]

A first characteristic configuration of a traveling control device for a light-guided work vehicle according to the present invention is provided with a light-emitting means for guiding on the end side of a traveling stroke, and the work vehicle comprises: Proper operation of the work vehicle is performed based on a pair of left and right image pickup means for picking up the light emitting means at a predetermined distance in the lateral direction of the vehicle body and position information of the light emitting means on the screen of the pair of left and right image pickup means. Steering position deviation amount determining means for determining the deviation amount from the heading position is provided, and the traveling control means is configured to reduce the deviation amount based on information of the steering position deviation amount determining means. It is configured to steer control the work vehicle.

The second characteristic configuration is a distance discriminating means for discriminating the distance from the work vehicle to the light emitting means based on the position information of the pair of left and right image pickup means of the light emitting means on the screen. It is in the point provided.

[0007]

According to the first characteristic construction of the present invention, the guiding light emitting means provided on the end side (for example, the terminal side) of the traveling stroke is imaged by the pair of left and right imaging means on the side of the work vehicle, and Based on the position information of the light emitting means in the respective screens of the pair of left and right image pickup means, the proper steering position of the work vehicle (for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the conditions of the optical system such as the magnification of the pair of left and right image pickup means). Under the same condition, the deviation amount from the position where the light emitting means is steered so that the position with respect to the screen center in each screen is symmetrically the same position, that is, the state where x1 and x2 are equal) is determined. Then, the work vehicle automatically travels along the travel path while the steering control is performed so that the determined deviation amount becomes small.

Further, according to the second characteristic configuration, from the positions of the pair of left and right image pickup means of the light emitting means on the screen, for example, the respective image pickup means and the light emitting means are respectively arranged with respect to the optical axes of the respective image pickup means. The angle formed by the connecting straight lines is determined, and the distance from the work vehicle to the light emitting means is determined based on both the angle information and the predetermined interval in the vehicle body lateral direction between the pair of left and right image pickup means.

[0009]

According to the first characteristic construction of the present invention, therefore, the light emitting means for guiding is constituted by a light source such as an ordinary light bulb, and the light emitting means is arranged in a predetermined direction in the direction crossing the length direction of the traveling stroke. Since it is only necessary to install it at a position, for example, as in the case of a conventional beam light type light emitting means, it is troublesome to check and adjust that the light beam for guiding from the light emitting means is accurately projected along the traveling path. It is no longer necessary, and therefore, a travel control device for a light guide type work vehicle in which installation work of a light emitting means for guidance is easy can be obtained.

According to the second characteristic configuration, by utilizing the information of the pair of left and right image pickup means provided for steering control, the work vehicle to the light emitting means can be provided without providing another detecting means. The distance can be determined, and based on this distance information, for example, it is possible to confirm the arrival at the end side of the traveling stroke, or it is possible to confirm the turning operation start position to another adjacent traveling stroke, Therefore, in addition to the first characteristic configuration, it is possible to obtain a more convenient travel control device for a light guide type work vehicle without inviting complication of the configuration.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a traveling control device for a rice planting work vehicle will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in order to guide the work vehicles V for rice planting so as to automatically travel along the straight travel paths arranged in parallel to each other set in the field,
A light source B1 as a target light-emitting means for guiding is constituted by a light bulb and is installed on the end side of each traveling stroke. A straight line that is parallel to the length direction of the traveling path and passes through the center of the light source B1 is set as the traveling reference line J. Further, the light source B1 is installed so as to be at the same height as the installation position of an image sensor S1 described later provided on the work vehicle V side. Further, the work vehicle V reciprocates through a plurality of traveling strokes while changing the direction by 180 degrees at the end of each traveling stroke so that the planting operation in a field in a predetermined range can be continuously and automatically performed. Light source B1
Are installed at opposite ends of adjacent travels.

The structure of the work vehicle V will be described below.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a seedling planting device 6 as a working device is provided at a rear portion of a vehicle body 5 having a pair of left and right front wheels 3 and rear wheels 4 so as to be vertically movable and drive-stoppable. . Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the front and rear wheels 3 and 4 are composed of a pair of left and right wheels so that the front and rear wheels can be individually steered.
Steering hydraulic cylinders 7 and 8 and electromagnetically operated control valves 9 and 10 for them are provided. That is, a two-wheel steering system in which only one of the front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 4 is steered, and the front and rear wheels 3, 4 are steered in opposite phases and at the same angle 4
It is possible to selectively use three types of steering systems: a wheel steering system and a parallel steering system in which the front and rear wheels 3, 4 are steered in the same phase and at the same angle.

In FIG. 1, 11 is a hydraulic continuously variable transmission that shifts the output from the engine E to drive the front and rear wheels 3 and 4 at the same time, 12 is an electric motor for gear shifting operation, 1
3 is a hydraulic cylinder for raising and lowering the planting device 6, 14 is a control valve thereof, 15 is an electromagnetically-operated planting clutch for intermittently driving the planting device 6 by the engine E, 16 is traveling of the work vehicle V, and A control device using a microcomputer for controlling the operation of the planting device 6, wherein the shifting motor 12 and the control valves 9, 1 are based on detection information from various sensors described later.
0, 14 and the planting clutch 15, respectively.

The sensors mounted on the work vehicle V will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, steering angle detection sensors R1 and R2 using potentiometers for detecting the steering angles of the front and rear wheels 3 and 4, respectively. And a vehicle speed sensor R3 using a potentiometer that indirectly detects the forward / backward traveling state and the vehicle speed based on the speed change state of the speed change device 11, and the speed change device 11
An encoder S4 for counting the number of rotations of the output shaft and detecting the traveling distance is provided. 2 and 3
As also shown in FIG. 1, a black and white image sensor S1 as a pair of left and right image pickup means for picking up the image of the light source B1 at a predetermined distance d in the lateral direction of the vehicle body is provided with the respective optical axes positioned in the horizontal plane and the front and rear of the vehicle body. It is installed at the upper part on the front side of the fuselage so as to image the front side of the vehicle body in a state of being aligned with the direction (therefore, both optical axes are in a parallel state). The midpoint of the interval d coincides with the center position in the lateral direction of the vehicle body.

As shown in FIG. 1, the luminance signals from the pair of left and right image sensors S1 are binarized based on a threshold value set in advance corresponding to the brightness of the light source B1 and correspond to the light source B1. Comparator 19 that outputs information extracted from region K (see FIG. 7), and the comparator 19
And an image memory 20 for storing the output information of the above as pixel information corresponding to a preset pixel density (32 × 32 pixels / 1 screen), and an area corresponding to the light source B1 stored in the image memory 20. The information of K is the control device 1
6 is input.

Using the control device 16, the travel control means 100 for controlling the travel of the work vehicle V so that the work vehicle V automatically travels along each of the straight travel paths, and the light source B1. A steering position displacement amount determination means 101 for determining the displacement amount of the work vehicle V from the proper steering position based on the position information on the screen of the pair of left and right image sensors S1.
The traveling control means 100 is configured to steer the work vehicle V based on the information of the steering position displacement amount determination means 101 so that the displacement amount becomes small. . As the work vehicle V reaches the end portion of one traveling stroke, the control device 16 sets the turning pattern toward the starting end portion of the next traveling stroke adjacent to the one traveling stroke. The work vehicle V is configured to rotate (see FIG. 6).

The steering position deviation amount determining means 101 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the respective screens of the pair of left and right image sensors S1 (where (a) is the screen of the left image sensor S1). (B) shows the screen of the image sensor S1 on the right side), the distances x1 and x2 in the left-right direction of the screen between the centers of gravity G1 and G2 of the regions K1 and K2 corresponding to the light source B1 and the screen center point O are detected. To be done. Here, when the distances x1 and x2 in the respective screens of the pair of left and right image sensors S1 are the same, it is determined that the work vehicle V is being steered to the proper steering position, and It is determined that the larger the difference between the intervals x1 and x2 is, the larger the deviation amount from the proper steering position of the work vehicle V is. Therefore, the travel control means 100 sets the distances x1 and x2 so that the difference between them becomes small, that is, the distances x1 and x2 become equal.
Steering will be done in the form of wheel steering.

Further, utilizing the control device 16, the work vehicle V outputs the light source B1 based on the positional information of the light source B1 on the screen of the pair of left and right image sensors S1.
A distance discriminating means 102 for discriminating the distance L up to is constructed. Specifically, the image sensor S1 on the left side in FIG.
, The pair of left and right image sensors S1
The intervals x1 and x2 detected in the respective screens of
And the optical system conditions such as the magnification of the image sensor S1, the angles θ1 and θ2 formed by the straight line connecting each image sensor S1 and the light source B1 with the optical axis of each image sensor S1 are calculated. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, both the angles θ1, θ
2 and the installation distance d of the pair of left and right image sensors S1 in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, the distance L from the working vehicle V (to be exact, the installation position of the image sensor S1) to the light source B1 is determined by the following formula. To be done. Incidentally, FIG. 8 shows the work vehicle V.
Shows a screen at an appropriate steering position in which the center of the vehicle body passes over the traveling reference line J, and the angle θ1 is θ1a <θ1b <.
A region K1 corresponding to the light source B1 in the screen becomes larger as θ1c <θ1d (that is, the distance L becomes smaller).
Is getting bigger.

[0020]

## EQU1 ## L = d / (tan (θ1) + tan (θ2))

Next, the operation of the control device 16 will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In the working vehicle V, the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body is adjusted to the direction of the first traveling stroke of the field. In addition, the centers of gravity G1 and G2 of the areas K1 and K2 corresponding to the light source B1 in the respective screens of the pair of left and right image sensors S1 are located at the same intervals x1 and x2 in the left-right direction of the screen from the screen center point O. Is set to the initial state, and the first traveling stroke starts along the length direction from the starting end side toward the terminating end side (see FIG. 2).

After the start of running, the steering control is executed based on the determination of the amount of deviation from the proper steering position. at the same time,
The distance determination operation is performed. The steering control and the distance determination processing will be described. First, as shown in FIG.
Imaging processing by the pair of image sensors S1, extraction processing of the areas K1 and K2 corresponding to the light source B1 and determination processing of the centers of gravity G1 and G2 of the areas K1 and K2 are performed, and the centers of gravity G1 and G2 and the screen center point O. From the intervals x1 and x2 in the horizontal direction of the screen from the work vehicle V to the light source B as described above.
The distance L to 1 is determined. Also, the above-mentioned intervals x1 and x2
The amount of deviation of the steering position is discriminated from the difference of, and the steering operation is performed at the steering angle proportional to the amount of deviation. In the case of FIG. 7, the interval x2 in the right image sensor S1 is larger than the interval x1 in the left image sensor S1 (x1
Since <x2), it is determined that the work vehicle V is displaced to the right of the proper steering position, and the steering operation is performed to the left.

Further, as the working vehicle V travels a set distance from the end of the travel stroke and reaches the planting start position based on the travel distance detection information by the encoder S4,
When the planting device 6 is lowered and driven,
Start planting work.

When it is confirmed by the determined distance L that the work vehicle V has reached the end of the traveling stroke (point e), the driving of the planting device 6 is stopped and the planting work is stopped. . Although not described in detail, when it is determined that the work is completed based on the number of times of turning, the next turning operation is not performed, the traveling is stopped, and the entire process is ended. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, from a point f at which the vehicle has traveled a distance a from the point e based on the detection information of the encoder S4,
The two-wheel steering type is switched to the four-wheel steering type, and a turning operation for turning the working vehicle V by 180 degrees toward the start end portion of the next traveling stroke is started, and along a predetermined turning section g. The turning operation is performed until the end point h of the turning operation. Then, after the turning operation of the turning section g is completed (arrival at point h), the four-wheel steering type is switched to the two-wheel steering type, and the steering control and the like in the next traveling stroke are executed.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the pair of left and right image pickup means S1 installed at a predetermined distance d in the lateral direction of the vehicle body has the respective optical axes located in the horizontal plane and along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. Although the state where both optical axes are made parallel is illustrated as an example, it is not always necessary to make both optical axes parallel to each other. You may turn it. Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the magnification of the pair of left and right image pickup means S1 is fixed, but for example, the zoom function is provided and the light emitting means B is provided.
When the distance from 1 is long, the magnification can be increased to ensure the accuracy of the determination of the deviation from the proper steering position and the determination of the distance.

Further, in the above embodiment, the steering position deviation discriminating means 101 has the centers of gravity G1 and G2 of the areas K1 and K2 corresponding to the light emitting means B1 in each screen of the pair of left and right image pickup means S1.
And the center point O of the screen in the left and right direction of the screen x1, x2
The larger the difference is, the larger the deviation from the proper steering position of the work vehicle V is determined. In this case, however, the distance determining means 102 may be included in the information on the intervals x1 and x2 in the screen. By combining the information of the distance L determined by the above, the deviation amount from the proper steering position of the work vehicle V can be determined with higher accuracy. That is, even if the amount of deviation of the work vehicle V from the proper steering position is the same, the difference between the two intervals x1 and x2 in the screen shown in FIG. 7 increases as the work vehicle V approaches the light emitting means B1. Therefore, when the distance L is small, the deviation amount determined from the difference between the two intervals x1 and x2 is corrected to be smaller than when the distance L is large.

Further, in the above embodiment, the traveling control means 100
However, the steering position shift discriminating means 101 determines that the two intervals x1, x
Although the steering angle is set in proportion to the deviation so that the determined deviation becomes smaller than the difference of 2 and the steering operation is performed at the steering angle, other than this, for example, The direction of deviation from the proper steering position may be determined based on the amount, and the steering operation may be performed at a predetermined steering angle set in advance in a direction in which the deviation is corrected. As described above, the specific configurations of the steering position deviation discriminating unit 101 and the traveling control unit 100 can be appropriately changed and set.

In the above embodiment, the light emitting means B for guiding is used.
An example in which 1 is installed at the end side of each traveling stroke is shown.
The pair of left and right image pickup means S1 may be installed not at the terminal end side but at the start end side so as to image toward the rear side in the traveling direction. Further, the light emitting means B1 is not limited to a light bulb, but other light emitting means such as a light emitting diode can be used.

In the above embodiment, the pair of left and right image pickup means S1 is composed of the black and white image sensor, but other than this, for example, a color image sensor may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the distance determining means 102 for determining the distance L from the work vehicle V to the light emitting means B1 based on the information of the pair of left and right image pickup means S1 has reached the end of the traveling stroke. However, instead of using the distance determining means 102, for example, the fact that the end of the travel process has been reached can be determined from the information on the travel distance detected by the encoder S4. Good.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the turning of the vehicle body is performed in the four-wheel steering type in the turning operation is illustrated, but it may be turned in the two-wheel steering type. The locus is not limited to the above routes e to h, but can be set variously according to the steering performance of the work vehicle V and the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the traveling control device for the rice planting work vehicle, but it can be applied to agricultural machines other than the rice planting machine and various automatic traveling work vehicles. The specific configuration of each part at that time can be variously changed.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control configuration.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating automatic traveling along a traveling stroke.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a work vehicle and a light emitting means.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of control operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of control operation.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a turning trajectory.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for determining a steering position shift.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of distance determination

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of distance determination

[Explanation of symbols]

 V work vehicle 100 traveling control means B1 light emitting means S1 imaging means 101 steering position deviation amount determination means 102 distance determination means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A light-guided work provided with travel control means (100) for controlling the travel of the work vehicle (V) so that the work vehicle (V) automatically travels along a straight travel path. A vehicle traveling control device, wherein a light emitting means (B1) for guiding is provided on an end side of a traveling stroke, and the light emitting means (B) is provided on the working vehicle (V) at a predetermined interval in a lateral direction of a vehicle body. B1) a pair of left and right image pickup means (S1) and position information of the light emitting means (B1) on the screen of the pair of left and right image pickup means (S1). Steering position deviation amount judging means (101) for judging the deviation amount from the steering position is provided, and the traveling control means (100) is based on the information of the steering position deviation amount judging means (101). , Steering control of the work vehicle (V) is performed so that the deviation amount becomes small. Configured light guided work vehicle travel control device as. 2. The distance from the work vehicle (V) to the light emitting means (B1) is determined based on position information of the light emitting means (B1) on the screen of the pair of left and right image pickup means (S1). The traveling control device for a light guide type work vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a distance determining means (102) for performing the operation.